Thatcher's son guilty in coup case

Los Angeles Times

Published 4:00 am, Friday, January 14, 2005

2005-01-14 04:00:00 PDT Johannesburg -- The son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher flew out of South Africa on Thursday after pleading guilty to charges relating to a coup attempt in the small, oil-rich African country of Equatorial Guinea.

Mark Thatcher, a businessman, denied any knowledge of, or participation in planning, the coup against the government of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, but admitted he had suspicions that associates may have been plotting mercenary activities. He could still face problems if officials in Equatorial Guinea seek his extradition.

Thatcher was fined 3 million rand (about $500,000) and given a four-year suspended sentence. He promised to cooperate with South African authorities in their investigation of the coup attempt.

After months on bail with his passport confiscated, Thatcher flew out of Cape Town on a flight to London and is expected to rejoin his wife, Texas-born Diane Bergdof, and two children in the United States.

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Thatcher, who has lived in a plush Cape Town suburb since the mid-1990s, was charged in August with breaches of South Africa's law against mercenaries because of his action on behalf of his friend Simon Mann, a former British special forces soldier accused by authorities in Equatorial Guinea of being one of the leaders of the failed coup and has been convicted and jailed in Zimbabwe for illegally buying arms.

Thatcher was charged because he chartered a helicopter at Mann's request. Thatcher admitted paying $275,000 to rent the craft, but he said he believed it would be used as an ambulance. He admitted he was negligent for failing to check the copter's use.

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